Friend using Cashback websites for work purchase

[Awebby1985]

Hi, long time lurker on MN but first time poster! Met a friend for lunch on Saturday a whilst chatting about work, my friend mentioned to me that as her work as a PA/assistant she frequently makes hotel/travel bookings for her team of around 30 people and said that when making these bookings always uses her personal online cashback account/website to make the bookings and makes around £200 a month from this.

So my question is, is my friend doing anything wrong? She is not stealing anything from the company as the travel would still need to be booked regardless?

DH always fills up his work van at sainsbury's so he can add it on our necter card - don't see an issue

Good for her!

She’s on dodgy ground here. That is company money, they should get the benefit of the ‘refund’/‘cheaper’ prices not her.

At my old company this would be a firing offence

I'm not sure about this - it seems like a bit of a grey area. I wouldn't do this.

Yes she’s benefiting due to work expenses not her own!

So while not illegal it’s immoral. I bet the cashback companies wouldn’t like it if they knew 😂

My work covers this under a fraud policy as it would be classed as a conflict of interest. She benefits from using certain suppliers, whereas she should be booking based on price/location etc.

No she isn’t doing anything wrong provided using external websites is within her work’s travel policy. People often link their personal airmiles membership to work travel too and it’s always allowed.

She is choosing to do a job at work in a way that is personal gain to her the optimal way she could actually deliver the best price / outcome. What if she would a better deal on a non compliant website. Either way I would say the cash discount is the property of her employer.
So I would say probably not illegal but likely against company policy and a sackable offence.

Doesn't matter what we think. What does the company think?

There are no 'cheaper' prices or 'refund' though with cash back, you are simply purchasing through the cashback sites link rather than directly.

IF it could be proven that she's buying from more expensive suppliers who have an affiliation with a cashback site, rather than buying from the most cost effective site for the company, then yeah that's an issue.

If theyve said 'buy a from b' and she does buy a from b but does it via cashback site C... I don't see that it is an issue.

Its essentially a bribe, payment for picking a certain supplier over another supplier.

Would be gross misconduct in our workplace.

She should be declaring this to the tax man! (Benefit in kind) and also not very ethical not sure how her work would react if they found out

It's a kickback for doing business on that site. If there's cash back on offer it should go to the company. It would get her sacked anyplace I've ever worked.

I'd be too scared to do this myself but good on her I think!

I would get in trouble for doing this.

My company is specific that this would be a breach of policy. We aren't even allowed to accumulate airmiles on work flights, let alone get cashback.

I’m in a public sector role. Thus would de a disciplinary offence. In a similar manner, I had a colleague (now retired) who linked her Nectar card to the massive electric bills that my organisation pays. She was formally disciplined.

Hmm I’ve done this, sent someone flowers at work, used a cash back site
I had to pay for the flowers and claim them back through my expenses so never even thought it was iffy as it wasn’t a company card 🤔

I’ve done this for my ex partner but slightly different as we had to pay travel on our own cards and claim back the expenses, as we booked everything from our own computer on our own cards it was fine, they were also encouraged to get nectar points for their petrol.

I guess it’s down to company policy, the company aren’t losing money but she could be on shaky ground if she’s doing it from work.

I'm a teacher. If we buy school supplies (I often do) and wish for the value to be reimbursed (I sometimes do), we cannot use a nectar card or similar due to the personal gain. I feel that there would be some policy at her place of work prohibiting her actions but who knows?

She needs to check her work's policy (and possibly the T&Cs of the cashback website).

At my work you can collect points on personal purchases that you are claiming expenses on, but not for company purchases (hotel, travel, utilities, etc.). It's gross misconduct.

It's also possibly dodgy because cashback doesn't always offer the best price. I've noticed with travel that the prices are higher going through cashback than just going to the site normally.

Since she is not spending her own money this would also be tax evasion if not declared as a benefit in kind from employment

I do this too.

At my last job I used to make loads doing stationary and stamp orders. Before I left I filled the stamp drawer and stationary cupboard to bursting

Now I don't do much shopping for work, but if I need to I use cash back sites. No one would care in my line of work. I wouldn't pay extra, choose a hotel based on cash back, I chose most suitable for work, then look to see if I can get cash back or Boom25.

Totally sackable without warning if working for nhs and local council to do that. In theory nothing wrong but shes getting persoonal gain. Very thin ice. I wish i could do the same but as mentioned above its a sackable offence without warning. Its in our terms and conditions. Not allowed to use and store cards either!

When I was a carer we did some training. We were told we were not allowed to use our co-op card to get points from their shopping...